5 deadly heroines in romance, according to Lynn Raye Harris
Lynn Raye Harris, author of Hot Rebel, shares five romance heroines she considers the deadliest.
Lynn: For the latest book in my Hostile Operations Team series, Hot Rebel, I knew I wanted a heroine who was every bit as kick-butt as the hero. I've had heroines save themselves before — and fight hard to do so — but Victoria Royal is special in that she was already a warrior.
Victoria was once a promising sniper for the U.S. Army. Not many women make it into sniper school, but Victoria is one of the few who did. And then she disappears before the course is over, and Nick "Brandy" Brandon doesn't know why.
But Victoria doesn't give up when she's forced out of the Army. Instead, she uses her special skills to sign on as a mercenary for a rogue outfit. This is where her path will eventually cross with Nick Brandon's again — and he's not going to like it when it does, because Victoria interferes with his mission and kills the wrong guy (in his opinion, not hers).
I love a tough heroine. They can be tough in many ways, but when a heroine is just as deadly and frightening as a man, in what is predominantly a man's profession, I love it so much more.
Here's a roundup of some romances that feature deadly heroines that I enjoy reading:
• Kiss Me While I Sleep by Linda Howard. Is there anything better than a Linda Howard novel? Lily Mansfield is a hired assassin working for the CIA. But now she wants vengeance, and she's very deliberate in her actions as she works toward that goal. She's cut herself off from everyone, and she's determined to bring a killer into the open. I just loved Lily and how tough she was! I couldn't stop reading this book.
• Circle of Desire by Carla Swafford. Holy cow, is this one hot! Olivia St. Vincent is a contract killer who works for a shadowy organization called The Circle. But when Collin Ryker kidnaps her, she learns more about The Circle than she ever knew — and some of it isn't what she expected. What a hot, sexy read!
• For My Lady's Heart by Laura Kinsale. Princess Melanthe is ruthless. She has to be to survive in the Middle Ages. She's a recent widow to a powerful man, and an evil rival wants her for his own. Melanthe has to walk a tightrope if she hopes to survive--but survive she does, and with amazing style and incredible calculation. Best of all, she loses her heart to a man she knows only as the Green Knight--and she will do anything to protect him from the men who would kill him for daring to love her. Amazing book!
• Lord of Scoundrels by Loretta Chase. OK, so maybe you wouldn't count Jessica Trent as a deadly heroine — but she is pretty determined to protect her brother from the evil Marquess of Dain. She even goes so far as to shoot Dain (and then she discovers he's not all that evil after all, ahem). And she does it calmly, coolly, and with no remorse. I love Jessica! She's pretty much the only woman strong enough for Dain, and that makes her a bad ass in my opinion.
• Angel's Blood by Nalini Singh. Elena Deveraux is a vampire hunter. But when the archangel Raphael hires her to take out a rogue archangel, Elena may have just bitten off more than she can chew. Caught between her duty and the seductive power of Raphael, failure is not an option — but neither is succumbing to Raphael, because he's more dangerous than anything she's ever encountered before. I just loved the delicious tension between these two characters! Elena is a strong, deadly heroine you can cheer for.
Here's the blurb about Hot Rebel:
A rebel on the run…
Victoria Royal is a traitor. Or so the U.S. government believes. Victoria was once a promising sniper in the Army, but now she's gone rogue—worse, she's just landed in the middle of a Hostile Operations Team mission in the desert and blasted it all to hell.
Nick "Brandy" Brandon doesn't expect to run into Victoria when he's bugging out from a mission gone wrong. It's been more than three years since she disappeared from the sniper course they were in together, and he's finally stopped thinking about her killer curves and smart mouth.
But now she's back—and she's far more dangerous than Nick ever believed possible… Is she really a traitor? Or is there something more at stake? He has to decide fast—because time's running out and too many lives hang in the balance…
Find out more about Lynn and her books at lynnrayeharris.com.